Escondido’s Management team

Ken joined Escondido in 2021 and currently serves as CEO and sits on the Escondido Board.

He spent 21 years with BP progressing through roles of increasing responsibility, including leadership roles in BP’s Executive Center and Central Function. Ken also led the implementation of the Deep-Water Horizon Recommendations throughout BP. His experience spans from onshore to deep water and though the full lifecycle; exploration to mature fields and abandonment. He has led drilling, completions, and workover engineering groups and operations around the world, to include the US onshore, shelf and deep water, UK, Russia, and the Middle East.

Ken served as a Captain in the US Army, holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston and Business degree from University of Arizona.

Robert joined the Escondido team in May 2021 as the Vice President of Operations with a primary focus on completions, base production, geology, and reservoir engineering. He brings 37 years of industry experience spanning 22.5 years at Chevron followed by roles as a chief technology officer at a service company and an independent producer and president of a technology deployment company. Robert has published numerous technical papers and articles on hydraulic fracturing and artificial lift.

He has 7 patents and served as a SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2017-2018.

Robert grew up in San Antonio and has been in Houston since 1990. He has a BS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Texas. He enjoys golf, hiking, experiencing different cultures, time with his family, and his thoroughbred racehorses.

Zade joined Escondido in 2023 as Vice President of Reservoir Engineering, focusing on asset development, resource characterization, and business development. Prior to joining Escondido, Zade worked at JP Morgan’s energy investment banking technical team where he held various roles on transactions totaling ~$100bn in value. His experience spans every major oil and gas basin in Lower 48. Prior to JP Morgan, he worked as a research analyst covering E&P and integrated oil companies at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, focusing on technical analysis of Lower 48 basins and supply and demand dynamics. Zade began his career as a completions engineer at ConocoPhillips working in the Bakken.

Zade holds a bachelors and masters degrees in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University at College Station.

Jacki has 20+ years of industry experience in both private and public entities, primarily in upstream oil and gas accounting. She is responsible for ensuring that the company’s accounting practices, financial reporting and tax reporting adhere to the highest professional standards. Previously, Jacki served as Director of Accounting for CAMS, LLC E&P group, managing full-cycle accounting for multiple private equity clients.

Jacki earned a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science from Southwestern Assemblies of God University with majors in Business and Accounting and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Houston Victoria with a major in Finance. She currently serves as the Houston West Area Coordinator for Samaritan’s Purse – Operation Christmas Child and enjoys gardening and hiking.

Nicholas Stellas is a dedicated energy finance professional with experience in asset development, corporate finance, and acquisitions and divestitures. Nick began his career developing deep water subsea fields in the Gulf of Mexico with Shell. After acquiring his MBA, he transitioned into onshore acquisitions and divestitures with Wells Fargo’s investment banking team where he covered every major basin in the lower 48. Nick later joined WattBridge, coordinating corporate and finance planning for the development and operations of a fast-start, peaker power plants.

Nick holds a Finance MBA from Rice University and a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

Will officially joined Escondido in 2018 and previously did work for the company as an independent landman. Since joining the company, he has held various roles of increasing responsibility and currently serves as Vice President – Land and Business Development. In his current position, he oversees the day-to-day management of Escondido’s Land Department and is also responsible for identifying and capitalizing on acquisition, divestiture, and joint venture opportunities for the company. Prior to becoming a landman, Will worked on Capitol Hill and for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in their China Office.

Will earned a BA in Government and MBA both from the University of Texas at Austin and holds a Certified Professional Landman (CPL) designation from the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL), where he is active member as well as with the Houston Association of Professional Landmen (HAPL). He also serves on the Associate Advisory Council for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center for Business, Law, and Policy at UT-Austin.